South Korea is going to legalize abortion after a 66-year ban
Seoul South Korea's 66-year abortion ban must be lifted by end of 2020 the country's Constitutional Court ruled Thursday, in a major win for pro-choice advocates.
Seven out of nine judges ruled that outlawing abortion was unconstitutional -- votes from six judges were needed to overturn the ban.Lawmakers now have until December 31, 2020 to revise the law. Termination of pregnancy after 20-weeks will remain illegal. Previously, women who had abortions in South Korea could face up to a year in prison and can be fined up to two million won , while doctors or healthcare workers who helped terminate a pregnancy could be jailed for up to two years.
Abortion advocacy sweeping through Catholic nations 04:24Around the same time, however, access to ultrasound technology allowed more people to know the sex of their unborn child. Some parents began aborting female fetuses -- illegally. The severe social stigma against unmarried mothers was another factor that led women to seek abortions. Even recently, women who had a child outside of marriage were often ostracized and cutoff from family support.
Ireland decides: Reactions from Dublin 02:16Meanwhile, activist Hong Yeon-ji, who attended a pro-choice rally along with hundreds of women a week before, said the current law was"abused by male partners as it penalizes the women who have the operation and the doctors who perform the operation." She said that many doctors who performed illegal abortions were not properly trained and the surgery methods they used had not been updated in years because the act itself was illegal.
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